Following the release of secretly recorded footage from a $50,000-a-plate Mitt Romney fundraiser, in which the GOP's presidential nominee can be heard blasting 47 percent of all voters for believing "they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it," subsequent media coverage may have given a casual observer the impression that Romney had all but forfeited the race.

But the latest national survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows most Americans thought coverage of the "47 percent remarks" was way over done.

Per the results of the survey, of the 67% who correctly identified Mitt Romney as the person behind the quote, some 49% thought news organizations gave the comments "too much" coverage.

Only 28% thought the coverage was "just right," while 13% thought there was not enough coverage.

As our own John Cook points out in his excellent feature, the media appears to be picking on Romney to such an extent that it's distracting itself from the real issues.

But is another consequence of this "Romney keeps screwing up" narrative, as John calls it, a voter backlash against the media that results in sympathy gains for Romney?

Possibly, but not over his 47 percent remark.

The same Pew poll also found that 55% of registered voters who correctly attributed the comments to Romney had a negative reaction to them.

[photo via AP]